How to Install Papermerge on Alpine Linux Latest

Papermerge is an open-source document management system that helps you organize, process, and search for your electronic documents. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install Papermerge on Alpine Linux Latest.

Prerequisites

Before we start, you need to have the following:

• A server running Alpine Linux Latest
• Access with root or sudo privileges
• A web browser to access the Papermerge web interface.
• PostgreSQL installed.

Install Required Dependencies

Before we start installing Papermerge, we need to install the required dependencies:

sudo apk add --no-cache tesseract-ocr
sudo apk add --no-cache tesseract-ocr-data
sudo apk add --no-cache poppler-utils
sudo apk add --no-cache libpq
sudo apk add --no-cache postgresql-client
sudo apk add --no-cache supervisor
sudo apk add --no-cache nginx
sudo apk add --no-cache py3-pip

Install Papermerge

Follow the steps below to install Papermerge:

Step 1: Create a Virtual Environment

Before creating a virtual environment for Papermerge, we need to install python3-venv:

sudo apk add python3-venv

Now we need to create a new directory for the virtual environment and activate it:

mkdir /opt/papermerge
python3 -m venv /opt/papermerge/venv
source /opt/papermerge/venv/bin/activate

Step 2: Install Papermerge with pip3

Now we can install Papermerge by running the following command:

pip3 install papermerge

Step 3: Set up the Database

We need to create a new PostgreSQL database for Papermerge. Start by logging in to your PostgreSQL server as the root user:

sudo -u postgres psql

In the psql prompt, create a new user and database for Papermerge:

CREATE USER papermergeuser WITH PASSWORD 'secret';
CREATE DATABASE papermerge OWNER papermergeuser;
\q

Step 4: Configure Papermerge

The next step is to configure Papermerge by creating a configuration file. Copy the sample configuration file and edit the settings to match your environment:

cp /opt/papermerge/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/papermerge/settings.py.example /opt/papermerge/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/papermerge/settings.py
nano /opt/papermerge/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/papermerge/settings.py

Scroll down to the database section, and replace the default settings with your PostgreSQL database settings:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'papermerge',
        'USER': 'papermergeuser',
        'PASSWORD': 'secret',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '5432'
    }
}

Save and close the file.

Step 5: Run the Migration

Now we need to apply the initial migration for Papermerge:

python3 /opt/papermerge/venv/bin/papermerge migrate

Step 6: Create a Superuser

To access the Papermerge web interface, we need to create a superuser:

python3 /opt/papermerge/venv/bin/papermerge createsuperuser

Step 7: Configure the Gunicorn

Next, we need to configure the Gunicorn web server. Create a new configuration file for Gunicorn:

nano /etc/supervisor/conf.d/papermerge.conf

Add the following:

[program:papermerge]
command=/opt/papermerge/venv/bin/gunicorn papermerge.wsgi -b 127.0.0.1:8000
directory=/opt/papermerge/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages
user=root
autostart=true
autorestart=true
redirect_stderr=true

Save and close the file.

Step 8: Configure the Nginx

Now we need to configure the Nginx web server. Create a new configuration file for Nginx:

nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/papermerge.conf

Add the following:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
}

Save and close the file.

Step 9: Start the Supervisord

Finally, start the Supervisord service to start the Gunicorn web server:

sudo service supervisor start

Step 10: Start the Nginx

Start the Nginx web server:

sudo service nginx start

Step 11: Access the Papermerge Web Interface

Now you can access the Papermerge web interface by visiting http://example.com in your web browser, where example.com is your server’s domain name or IP address.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to install Papermerge on Alpine Linux Latest. With Papermerge, you can easily manage your electronic documents and search for them with ease.

If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!

Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!